On Media

Miami Herald: Univision admits Rubio offers

By DYLAN BYERS

01/02/2012 02:50 PM EST

The Miami Herald's Marc Caputo, who reported in October that Univision News President Isaac Lee had offered to soften or kill a story about Marco Rubio's brother if the senator cooperated with the network, cites today's article in The New Yorker on Rubio as vindication of his story. In a post for the Herald's Naked Politics blog, he writes:

Lee denies offering a quid pro quo. He wouldn't speak with us for our original piece, and instead issued a written statement. He sat down with The New Yorker, though, and shed more light on the subject:

[H]e offered three Univision options: report a standalone news story on Orlando Cicilia; have Senator Rubio cooperate on a network profile; or have him be interviewed on Jorge Ramos’s “Al Punto.” Whatever the venue, Lee says, the issue of Orlando Cicilia would have been raised.

That means a standalone drug-bust story might not run, depending on how Rubio played his cards. That is, if Rubio appeared on "Al Punto" and answered a question or two about Cicilia as part of a broader interview, then a standalone drug-bust story might not run. And just because an issue is "raised" in an interview doesn't always mean it will be fully broadcast.

Caputo's full post is available here. Ken Auletta, who wrote The New Yorker article, characterizes it somewhat differently: "The notes of the conversation between Rubio's office and Univision don't provide a convincing case that Univision proposed dropping any mention of Senator Rubio's brother-in-law's criminal past if Rubio consented to an interview," he writes.

But Caputo says that his story "wasn't just based on the notes. And we repeatedly said that, according to the sources and notes, Univision offered to soften "OR" spike the story. We weren't sure."

UPDATE: Univision spokesperson Monica Talan emails:

The New Yorker story speaks for itself — it shows that Univision covered the story of Sen. Marco Rubio's brother-in-law fairly and accurately. The story also highlights the strength and integrity of Univision's news team. Univision's leadership and journalistic commitment to covering news for U.S. Hispanics are reflected in the trust we have earned from our audience.